


Walking Man's Road

by AmberDiceless



Category: Good Omens (TV), The Last Unicorn (1982), The Last Unicorn - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Gen, No Beta We Die Like Man-Shaped Beings, Regret, philosophical musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberDiceless/pseuds/AmberDiceless
Summary: "Oi, Shem!  That unicorn's gonna make a run for it! ...oh, it's too late.  Well you've still got one of 'em!"In which Aziraphale and Crowley are, for once, happy to have been mistaken.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Walking Man's Road

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by lots of lovely crossover art and fandom chatter, and a connection that so far I haven't seen anybody else make...

"I thought the same thing myself, once," said the Unicorn to the demon. "Or at least, I feared it might be true."

Crowley smiled, running a hand idly through her silky mane. "I'm glad we were both wrong, then."

"So am I." She turned to nudge his shoulder gently with her nose. "So, you've made your choice at last. You have chosen humanity over your own kind."

"I made it a long time ago," he said, leaning back companionably against her snowy-white flank, squinting a bit with his sunglasses tucked into his pocket. All that any but the most perceptive human passer-by would see was a man relaxing in the sun alongside a petite white mare--a bit of a peculiar thing to see in St. James's Park in this day and age, maybe, but anyone who might be inclined to investigate would find themselves oddly reluctant to do so, and would quickly forget they'd seen anything at all. "It just took a near-Apocalypse to push me those last few steps."

"I understand," she said. "I became human, and mortal, once, for a little while.”

 _“What?!”_ Crowley twisted around to gawk at her, outraged. “Point me at the tosser who did that to you. Was it a demon? Hastur's the type who'd pull a nasty trick like that just for laughs...”

“No, not a demon.” The Unicorn shook her head, nuzzling him gently. “It was a magician named Shmendrick—a friend. He cast a spell to protect me.”

As Crowley subsided, mollified, she continued, a little wistfully, “That is a story in itself. Perhaps one day I will tell it to you. But I was human for some time. I recall how it felt to love. And to wish to die a mortal death with the one I loved--and to weep. It was strange, and frightening. But there was a sweetness to it that I remember still."

He nodded. "It's not the sort of thing you forget, once it's happened to you. But you chose differently."

"I had to. For my story to end there, happily, with him, my kind would have had to pay a terrible price," she said, a little sadly. "And I have heard it said that there can be no happy endings, for nothing ends.

“But I am not certain that is true,” she went on. “I have found joy again since. And your story is your own. You are more like them than I ever was."

Crowley straightened up and turned to regard her with a bemused half-smile. "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment."

"It was not a compliment," she said, "and not an insult. It's only the truth.”

“Hm. I suppose.” Crowley had to admit it was a fair point. It wasn't as though she was the first person who'd made that observation.

"Tell me, fallen angel," the Unicorn said, holding his serpentine gaze with her great luminous eyes, "Do you know what it is to feel _regret?"_

"Regret? Nnnnyuh..." Crowley made a noncommittal face and turned away, contemplating that. "I dunno. Maybe, a little." He glanced upward. "Heaven wasn't always the way it is now. Back in the Beginning--before you came along, even--it was my home. It really was a good place, back in those days. I was happy there for a long time. I miss that, every now and again.

"But the place I remember doesn't exist anymore. Everything's changed. Everyone I cared about there is gone now, or they've long since forgotten who they were." He looked to his right, where a plump angel dozed contentedly against the Unicorn's soft coat. "And maybe that had to happen, so that we could have everything we've got now. Not just me and him, I mean. The humans, too.

"So, no...” He shook his head. “I wonder, sometimes, what might have happened differently. I s'pose most people do. But regret? Nah. Not really."

"I am happy for you. I wish you joy," she said, turning her great head to look over them both fondly. "And I hope that this world does not change too much more, or _all_ our stories may end sadly."

"Here's hoping." Crowley smiled somberly as she gave her hindquarters a little shimmy and Aziraphale startled awake, peering around blearily and rubbing his eyes. "Time to go?"

"I'm afraid so." She rose gracefully to her feet. "I can no longer protect my forest as I once did, but I do what I can. If I am away too long, I fear there may be nothing left for me to guard."

Crowley frowned slightly as he stood, helping Aziraphale up as well. "Don't say that." Though he knew well enough that once again, she spoke only the truth.

"My goodness.” Aziraphale said, abashed. “Did I nod off? How dreadfully rude. I am _so_ sorry."

"It is all right." The Unicorn nudged her head briefly against his shoulder. "Peace is rare enough, these days. I did not mind sharing a little of it with you."

The angel smiled, giving her neck a respectful pat. "Thank you so very much for inviting us, milady. It's been truly an honor. Will we see you again soon?"

"Perhaps,” she said. “I would like that. But for now, farewell.”

Backing up a few steps, she tossed her nose into the air and gave a loud whinny.

Around them on all sides, beds of blooming white flowers and brilliant patches of sunlight scattered across the grass exploded into graceful, shimmering forms that reared and pawed and neighed to one another, then wheeled and galloped off in every direction; for all their size and power, flowing around and over obstacles in their paths as easily as a gentle breeze.

Human visitors to the park, absorbed in their phones or conversations, took no notice at all, or paused and blinked at what might seem to be a flock of birds startling into flight, or a bicyclist moving a bit too fast with pedestrians about, or perhaps the sun randomly reflecting into their eyes off some shiny object.

Only a very few--a tiny toddler girl who laughed and squealed and pointed excitedly, mystifying her parents; a young Russian agent who was already running late, and whose British counterpart (and their regular contingent of ducks) were going to be very cross with him for the time he lost stopping and staring agape at the spectacle; a bored middle-aged lady selling ice lollies, who promptly burst into tears all over her customer's Cornetto--saw anything out of the ordinary. It was safe enough that they did; no one they might tell would believe such a fantastical story. (Except the ducks.)

"Aren't they magnificent," Aziraphale breathed as one by one, the majestic creatures faded into sparkles in the distance. "And to think, all this time we believed there was only the one left."

"Yeah...I still feel a proper idiot," Crowley said, shaking his head as he took out his sunglasses and put them on. "Can't believe it took me five thousand years to figure out that _unicorns can't drown."_

  


  


**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's curious, in my headcanon, the unicorns in this story had gathered to meet for whatever reason of their own. But the world has grown very dangerous for them in modern times, so _the_ Unicorn (having met Aziraphale and Crowley aboard the Ark, which I should probably write one day) proposed they do so in a place she knew was under the protection of powerful friends.


End file.
